the whole man body and soul for to keep one member or to please one pleasant gainfull darling Lust In the torments of hell there are two parts First something Privative a privation of all good whatsoever might make them happy and something Positive an addition of whatever might make them miserable The first is expressed by Christ depart from me ye cursed Mat. 25.41 The Positive part of the torments of hell are set forth in these words where their worm dyeth not wherein we may observe First the torment of the Creature from God 2dly From himself something principal and something accidental that from God which is the principal part of heâ—l torment is the fire the less principal the worm In the words therefore is discribed the positive part of the torments of hell First that which is Essential and principal the Fire Secondly That which is less Principal the Worm Thirdly The eternity of them both the fire is never quenched nor the Worm never dies I will take them as they lye in the Text and begin first with that which is less principal the Worm their worm never dyes Here we may note two things First the torment it self a Worm Secondly the particularity of the torment Their Worm Every man shall have his own Worm The words are taken out of Isa 66.24 The Lord had promised the glorious deliverance of the Church and had threatned the utter destruction of his enemies and when they were destroyed the Saints should look upon them and triumph over them the Saints shall have dominion over them in the morning and they shall go forth in their contemplation and consider not only their present outward condition and misery but their eternal condition Their Worm never dyes and their fire is not quenched to all Eternity and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh To begin with the Torment it self it 's a Worm which is not to be understood literally but metaphorically of something that holds some resemblance and some analogy to it Now a Worm in Scripture is put to resemble two things First something that is despicable and to be contemned fear not thou worm Jacob Secondly something that is tormenting and continually vexing and so it 's in this place here the Phylosophers tell us Nihil est in intellectu c. And therefore the Lord is pleased to help our understandings to express spiritual things by earthly similitudes and resemblances as Christ saith of the Misteries of the Gospel he could not speak them as they were but by earthly things that is in respect of the manner of delivery though the things were in themselves spiritual and if the Lord do it by things that men have experience of in this life how much more the things that are reserved for the World to come as the joys of Heaven by all good things the torments of hell by all evill things Whatever is most terrible to sence and most tormenting as Fire Brimstone darkness and a Worm which are only to help our understanding in those things which both pass fear and knowledge as after death it is set forth as a thing dreadfull to nature to have worms breed out of a man and feed upon him Job 24.20 as Job speaks The Worms shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remembred c. And the greatest persons that have lain upon beds of Ivory and have had Tapistry for their covering must say unto the worms ye are my sisters the Moth eats them as a garment and the Worm devours them as wooll c. Now to have these bodies that have been cloathed sumptuously and fed delicately to be cloathed with worms and to become their food is sad and even dismal to nature after a mans dissolution But if these worms should breed in a man and feed upon him whilst he were alive it would be much more terrible as it was a torment invented by a Tyrant to keep a man in a Coffin and feed him till by his own filth he breed worms and these worms devoured his flesh and he dyed by them The judgement that came upon Herod by the immediate stroak of an Angel Acts 12.23 and the same judgement is said to be inflicted upon Maximinus the Emperor that his body putrify'd bred worms continually Now this is a fearfull thing and dreadfull to nature to come upon the body but what will it be for a worm to be gnawing upon the soul for ever For in respect of that fire in Hell our fire here is but a painted fire it 's true also in reference to the Worm therein This being a Metaphorical expression let us come to open it a little what it is and wherein the resemblance doth consist This Worm is generally to be understood of the furious reflection of the soul upon it self in consideration of it's by past life neglected opportunities and it 's present hopeless and unrecoverable condition and so the tormenting acts of Conscience upon the man are resembled by the Worm and the resemblance lies in two things First a Worm is bred out of the putrifaction of the subject in which it is now in the conscience of men there is much corruption the conscience is as it were the sink where all the evil in a man is there is first much of the filthiness and defilement of sin in the conscience Tit. 1.15 Their conscience is defiled Mat. 23.27 like whited Sepulchres outwardly fair but inwardly full of rottenness and all uncleannesse they may easily breed worms Heb. 9.14 Secondly All the guilt of sin in the soul settles upon the conscience and it needs purging for all the works done by an unregenerate man are dead works because they proceed from a dead nature and because they all tend unto death and though these things be the work of the whole soul and every faculty yet the guilt of them all is laid upon the conscience and if there be so much filthiness and putrifaction both of guilt and defilement in the conscience it is no wonder if it breed a worm as all other putrifactions do and this being the worst it is not strange if it breed the worst and the most devouring Worm Secondly It doth alwayes gnaw upon the subject in which it is bred and so it is with this Worm it is alwayes feeding upon the soul and that for ever For it is with a mans spirit as with mill-stones when there is nothing else it grindes it self c. Now God will stop the current of all the creatures after this life Luke 16.25 There shall be nothing from without for the spirit of a man to feed upon and then it will turn in upon it self for ever Here most of the acts of a mans soul are direâ—â— upon objects without him there are few reflexe acts man will not turn in upon himself But then a mans acts shall be full of reflection upon himself for ever Now this furious reflection of the
three things first it hath no beginning of its being or working Secondly it has no end Thirdly it has no succession his name is I am Exod. 3 14 that I am for in aeternitate non est erit fuit we must indeed destinguish between the act as it is in God and the product thereof as it is in the Creature all actions from God are from Eternity and without succession he understands all at once but he doth will that the things shall in their being have a succession and exist one after another in their several seasons and Generations as Creation in God is but one simple act of his will and tota simul it being nothing else but ipsa essentia dei cum relatione ad Creaturas Aquin. p. 1.9.43 But he doth will that the Creatures in the space of Six days shoul take their beginning and that after the creation the floud should come upon the world and he did will from eternity that all the creatures should subsist and stand up out of nothing in their several seasons and order which though it take place in the creature in several ages yet it is all one eternal consent and continued will of God some actions of God are ex necessitate naturae natae and they take place from eternity and have no beginning as the Generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy-Ghost but some are voluntary and they have there beginning in time as the will of God doth appoint them for to have Now Of two of those branches of eternity the creature is not capable it cannot competere to a created nature First All creatures must have a beginning and cannot be eternal because they have their being from another and are not the fountain of their own being Secondly All creatures have a succession either in their being or their actions they do one thing after another and they may be said to be what they were not before and to do what they did not before but it cannot be so of God and therefore he is only said to inhabit eternity Isa 57.15 It is his dwelling place alone He that is every where present and fils all places without motion he doth inhabit and fill all time without succession The Angels themselves though I do not say that their actions are measured by time as ours are yet there is a succession in them and they do one thing after another and as they do remove from one place to another so they are measured in their actions there is a succession and they may be said to have something past and something to come so there shall be in the thoughts of men in Heaven and in Hell also for they cannot take in eternity at once they must act in a successive way sutable to the nature of a creature But in the eternity of the creature there is only the last it shall be without end and without intermission so that there are two things implyed in these last words the Worm dies not it shall be continual and it shall be eternal there shall be no intermission no conclusion Here in this Life either a mans choicest pleasures have an end or are interrupted Son remember that in thy Life time thou receivedst thy good things and the consideration thereof doth fill a mans Soul with Gall and Wormwood in the sweetest injoyments and they all deceive a man as a brook that passeth by and are as grass upon the House-top that withers before it come to ripeness either in the bud or in the blade it is blasted as all earthly comforts are so for all flesh is grass and the glory of it is as the flower of the field or if they have not an end they have interruptions and intermissions a soul that injoys the light of Gods countenance and has his heart filled with joy more then can be had in corn and wine and oil yet by and by God hides his face and the man walks in darkness and hath no lights again and therefore he crie out with Bern. it is dulce commercium but breve momentum O si duraret c. But after this Life in Heaven as we shall be ever with the Lord so we shall always behold his face and be satisfied with his likeness and drink for ever out of the Rivers of his pleasures and this shall be without intermission or interruption for ever And in this Life a mans greatest affliction has an end also Lazarus is comforted when Dives is tormented in the grave the wicked cease from troubling him and the weary are at rest the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressont or at least there is some intermission and there are lucid intervals though heaviness may indure for a night yet joy will come in the morning but after this life there will be no more changes and therefore death is called by way of eminence a mans change Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come c. Because it is a mans last and great change though his life be full of changes yet his death is the great and the last change and there will be no more changes a mans misery will then be eternal without conclusion and continual without intermission There will be pure darkness utter and everlasting darkness there will be no end no mittigation the Worm never dies and never sleeps and the fire is never extinguished never abated or mittigated to eternity Of these two I would speak â—istinctly First Of the torments of Hell that they are eternal and without conclusion Secondly that they are continual and without intermission First The torments of ungodly men after this life shall be eternal and shall never end We have heard that there are two parts of this torment the one principal the fire and the other accidental the Worm and now we come to prove the eternity of both these First The fire in Hell that is the wrath of God poured out upon the Soul shall be for ever and shall never end and is therefore called everlasting fire Mat. 18.8 and 25.41 And everlasting punishment 25.46 And everlasting destruction 2 Thes 1.9 And the Chains by which men are bound in the world to come are everlasting Chains under darkness Luke 16.9 Jude 7. Heaven is an everlasting habitation and so is Hell also it is for Eternity There are several expressions in Scripture that do argue as much first the Scripture doth tell us that there is a day of Grace and a time of patience when the Lord will offer himself unto men and wait upon them or their acceptance of his Grace but this day will have an end and the time of buying will be past and therefore it was not admonitio sed exprobratio non consilium sed opprobrium c. It 's not counsell but a scoffe to go buy when the time of buying was past there is now a time of
soul upon it self it 's own filthiness and wilfull folly What fair offers and opportunities he has had and neglected what fair hopes he had conceived and they are vanished and how all the pleasures of sin and the promises of Satan have deceived him as a Brook that passeth by and this will gnaw upon the soul with remediless and unconceivable torment for ever this is the Worm that never dyes and truly there is no consideration in the World will work upon the hearts of men if this dreadfull one does not That a man that lives and dyes in sin in a sinfull state shall be tormented for ever with fire that shall never be quenched and this nevever dying Worm shall gnaw upon him to all Eternity with remediless and unconceivable torments for ever This is the Worm that never dyes After this life a wicked mans own Conscience shall be his tormenter Doctrine The Worm dyes not it will be a great instrument that God will use in a mans destruction There are Four things to be spoken to in the Explication First to shew what Conscience is which is here resembled to a Worm Secondly To prove that this Conscience shall be a mans tormenter Thirdly To give the grounds and the reasons of it Fourthly To set forth some of those acts that Conscience as a Worm shall put forth the manner of the working of it in the gnawings of a Worm and then come to the Application Quest 1. First What is Conscience Answ It is an ability in the understanding to judge of a mans self his Estate and Actions according to the rule that God hath prescribed Here observe First It is an ability in the understanding for I make it not as some do a distinct faculty therefore it is in no Creatures but those that are reasonable Men and Angels other Creatures are directed to an end and they work by a rule thereunto but they neither know their end nor their rule neither are they able to reflect upon their actions whether they have done good or evil and therefore no Creature can sin but a reasonable Creature for sin must be a transgression of a Rule which a man doth or ought to know and to walk answerable unto and therefore it is made a proper act of a man Isa 46.8 Remember this and shew your selves men Secondly Conscience must have a rule indeed the Scripture doth require that men should walk according to their consciences and do as their Conscience doth dictate unto them Rom. 13.5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but for Conscience sake ye must be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and when Conscience requires one thing and Lust another and the man receives not the rule of Conscience but of Lust he doth then imprison the truth in unrighteousness where the Dictates of Conscience are called the truth Rom. 1.18 though it be but of a natural Conscience But yet here men mistake for Conscience is but regula regulata not the highest rule for it must it self have a Rule to judge by Gal 6.16 and he that doth not go by rule and hath no higher rule to regulate his Conscience and yet doth by his Conscience regulate his Actions Conscience being defiled Pit 1.15 He doth walk with God at a venture Lev. 26.21 And this rule of Conscience is the whole revealed wil of God whether ex principiis naturae or scripturae whatever God requires of a man as duty whether by his word or by his works and Conscience knows no other rule but the will of God revealed because it is subjected unto no other God only can command the Conscience and bind the Conscience because he only can judge the Conscience Now the understanding having nothing else but a principal of nature for it's rule we call that a natural Couscience and they that have the word of God for their rule or any special work of illumination from the Holy Ghost whether it be common or saving we call this an inlightned Conscience answerable unto the rule that it has to judge by either of mens states or wayes Thirdly The chief act of Conscience and that which is only proper and essential to it is to judge of the man according to this rule and to pronounce a sentence upon him whether good or evil and hence is the accusing and the excusing power of Conscience Rom. 2.14 15. if Conscience judge of an action to answer the rule then it excuseth and if that be different from the rule then it accuseth and therefore 't is said Joh. 8.9 They are consinced of their own Consciences that is their Consciences laid their acts to the rule and did tell them that they did not agree to it and they could not deny it and therefore went their way and therefore Conscience is alwayes in Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a knowing and judging of one thing with another a knowing and judging of a mans state or actions with the rule 2 Cor. 4.2 we approve our selves to every mans conscience says the Apostle in the sight of God and that is all our aim we seek not to approve our selves to your lusts your fancies we may sometime in our Ministerie reprove sin that you are not willing to leave and press to duty that you are not willing to practice we may cross your affections and provoke your lusts but yet we know that we have something within you that takes our part and doth approve the Doctrine that we teach and the duties that we practice all the while so that the main of Conscience lyes in judging or applying an action to the rule and pronouncing a sentence accordingly So that in 1 Cor. 11.31 Judge your selves c. and Isa 5.3 Judge I pray between me and my Vineyard So that Conscience is an ability in a man having a rule given him to reflect upon his actions and state and â—udge whether it agree with the rule that is given to it or no. 4thly That which is subjected to the judgement of Conscience is a mans state and wayes the whole man To judge other men is not properly our work either their actions or states unless we are called by special Office thereunto for thou judgest another mans servant he stands and falls to his own Master But a mans whole self is subjected to the judgement of Conscience First Conscience judges of a mans state 1 Joh. 3.20 If thy heart condemn thee or do not condemn thee and Jam. 1.24 The Word doth shew a man what manner of man he is and in what state he stands towards God whether he be one of the wise or foolish Virgins or builders whether he build upon a Rock or the Sand. Now consciscience takes this rule and lays a mans state to it and tels the man this is my condition Secondly Conscience judges of mens actions Rom. 9.1 I speak the truth I lye not my Conscience bearing me witness 〈◊〉
seat and will exalt the humble and lowly Sixthly Keep a good Conscience towards enemies Job 3.129 30. it was a brave temper in Job If I rejoyced at the destruction of him that hated me or lift up my self when evil found him c. and our Saviour bids us Mat. 5.44 pray for them that despightfully use you and persecute you c. forgive them and be willing to do them good if thine enemy hunger feed him for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good if they be thy enemies without a cause or for telling them the truth they are more their own enemies then thine therefore pity them The accidental part or less principal part of the torments of Hell we have hear under the Metaphor of the never dying Worm And now I come unto the principal part and that which is essential to it and that is the fire that never can be quenched and here I must mind you of what Christ sayes Joh. 3.12 I have spoken to you Earthly things and you believe not Spiritual things under Earthly resemblances for our weak eyes need to have the species condensed by such spectacles as these are spiritualia capere non possumus nisi adumbrata c. How shall you believe if I tell you of Heavenly especially when the joys of Heaven and the pains of Hell are laid down in any measure before you this latter I am now to speak to the fire which cannot be quenched it 's a thing disputed amongst Divines and the fathers of old have differ'd in it and the Schoolmen after them whether the fire by which the damned in Hell shall be tormented be not Material and Corporeal fire but Metaphorical only some of them say that it is Corporeal and of the same nature with that fire we have here because it must torment the bodies of men and others say that it cannot be Corporeal for then it cannot work upon Spirits as the Devils and the Souls of men are and hence Durandus and others have found out a way that by the power of God he can elevate Corporeal agents in their operations so that they shall work upon Spiritual subâ—â—ances and as the Soul is affected here by its union with the body so it shall be hereafter c. But these things seem not at all to agree with the word of God nor the manner of the speaking of the Spirit of God therein who hath wholly expressed Heaven and Hell to us by Metaphors because in its proper Speech and if the Lord should speak of things as they are we could not understand them it 's questioned by some Divines by what names the estate and condition of the damned was expressed in the Old Testament and it is wholly resolved into certain Metaphors taken from some exemplary acts of vengeance upon sinners the first remarkable judgment that came upon the world was the Deluge now we read in Gen. 6. Of Giants that were in the Earth men of renown whose wickedness was so great upon the Earth that the Lord repented that he had made man and takes up a resolution in judgment to destroy them that he had created from the Earth and these being the first that did eminently and remarkably perish therefore Pro. 21.16 't is said The man that wanders out of the way of understarding shall remain in the Congregation of the dead the Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the place receives its name from those wicked men who were in the eyes of all men remarkably the first inhabitants and this is conceived to be the first title that in Scripture is any where given to the place of the damned the next judgment was the destruction of Sodom God condemning them with an overthrow and turning it into a dead Sea a fiery and Sulphurious Lake where every thing dyes nor can any thing live in it and a smoak that continually ascends up and by that also in Scripture Hell is expressed the Lake that burns with fire and Brimstone for ever and it is Jude 7. suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire There is another expression of it that is very famous there was near Jerusalem a place that was called Tophet as Schal conceives from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tympano because of the several Musical Instruments that were used there when the Jews did sacrifice their children unto Molech and burnt them caused them to pass through the fire unto the Devil and to testifie that they did it from the heart though they were never so dear yet they must rejoyce in it and dance at the sacrifice it was the Valley of the sons of Himon this place was thus polluted by sin and with the blood of men poor inocent ones And this place of Idolatry Josiah did pollute and commanded all the dead bodies and all the unclean things of the City to be cast therein and for the consuming of those a continual fire was kept there and God did execute special vengeance in this place because in it the Lord destroyed 185000. of the Assyrian Camp and there the Jews were slain themselves when the Babylonish Army took the City and hence Isa 30. and last verse For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he has made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it this place that was so famous for judgment and vengeance is used to express the torments of Hell the place of the damned it is called Tophet and hence also I conceive the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath its name from Himon for the greatness of the misery it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the grave and destruction Pro. 15.11 There is nothing done in Hell and in the bottomless pit but it is open to the Lord he knows and orders all in it and therefore is the Devil called Abadon the destroyer for the terror and unquietness thereof it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2.4 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to trouble vex and disquiet a man and it s called for the uncomfortableness and continual fear of it darkness by which all misery is expressed in the Scripture and to set forth the perfection of it it is called utter darkness Mat. 8.12 but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness c. That is extra Ecclesiam regnum Christi for the Kingdom of God is an inheritance in light Col. 1.12 so all the miseries of men without Christ are called darkness and a darkness that is without even there where all the wicked of the world shall be so Cartwright and some think that it is Comparativum Superlativi loco and it signifies maximas profundismas and so Pareus c. And for the eternity of it its called the deep Luke 8.31 and Rev.
THE Worm that Dyeth not OR HELL TORMENTS In The CERTAINTY AND ETERNITY of Them Plainly Discovered in several Sermons Preached on Mark Chap. the 9th and the 48. v. By that Painful and Laborious Minister of the Gospel William Strong And now published by his own Notes as a means to deter from Sin and to stir up to Mortification LONDON Printed by T. R. and M. D. and are to be sold by Fra. Titon at the three Daggers in Fleet-street 1672. GOOD READER A Discourse of Hell cannot be unprofitable and unseasonable in an age wherein many deny the eternal recompenses others live as if they did not believe them yea among those that take on a stricter form of living many carry it on with such coldness and deadness that their conversations no way look like a flight from wrath to come or a pursuit after eternal life and therefore they need to be awakened Sermons of Hell may keep many out of Hell yea it concerneth the best and most serious to know what wrath they have escaped to quicken their thankfulness for that they are as brands plucked out of the burning As it heightned the sence of their deliverance to the Israelites when they looked back and saw the Egyptians tumbling in the waters of the Red-Sea which they passed through without harm surely they that cannot endure to hear of Hell or read of Hell discover too much of the guilt and security of their own hearts presumption is a coward and a run-away but Faith supposeth the worst Psal 23.4 and so encountreth its enemy in the open fields if the torments prepared for the disobedient and impenitent be so â—orrible and grievous we all need to be more srious in settling our eâ—erâ—â—â— interests upon a sure bottom and fâ—undation and to learn that holy mixture of serving God with fear and rejoycing with trembling and so to take sanctuary at the Lords Grace and enter our selves heirs to the priviledges of the Gospel that our claim may never be disproved nor our hope leave us ashamed This is the design of these Sermons of the reverend Author which were transcribed from his own Notes not indeed prepared for the Press but the Pulpit and if they want any thing of that accuracy which might be expected from one so able in the work of the Ministry The Candid Reader will distinguish between what is intended to be spoken to one Auditory and written to the World and how much is reserved to be uttered on the suddain in the heat and vigour of speaking for enlivening and polishment on such occasions What is left was conceived useful and therefore put into thy hands The Blessing of God Almighty go along with it and sanctifie it to thy Soul which is the hearty Prayer of thy Servants in the Lords Work Tho. Manton J. Rowe MARK 9.48 Where their Worm dyeth not and the Fire is not quenched MY purpose is to break up those Treasures of wrath which God hath reserved for his enemies Psal 90.11 Ephes 3.19 which not only passeth knowledge but also fear his love to his People passeth knowledge his wrath to his enemies passeth fear a full discovery by me you cannot expect seeing it passeth knowledge and answerable affections in you I cannot expect to the utmost seeing that it passeth fear but if it may be a means to deter you from sin and a motive unto mortification I shall have my end in the discourse as Christ his end in the exhortation The words are to be considered either respective in reference unto what goes before and so we see them several times repeated to press the duty of mortification of a mans dearest darling Lust his most pleasant and most profitable sin that sin is resembled unto a body in Scripture is clear Rom. 7 4. the body of sin and the body of death and that some sins are in this body â—s the right hand and the right eye is as clear also called a mans sweet morsel his own iniquity the peccatum in deliciis the right eye is in the body the dearest and the right hand is most usefull serviceable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profitable and advantageous to the body but if it be a stumbling block to thee and cause thee to offend God and forsake the way of his obedience then cut it off pluck it out it is a hyperbolical expression Sic animo tuo comparatus esto though thou do not actually yet intentionally and in thy purpose and resolution of heart part with what is dearest to thee then that it should be a means or an occasion of sin unto thee and the reason it given better enter into life maimed that is though thou think'st if thou part with such a lust thou shouldest live uncomfortably and be as a maimed and but half a man all thy days yet in common reason the whole is better than any part therefore better suffer the excision of a member than the dissolution of the body in your own judgement and the judgement of the World be counted imperfect men all your days rather than suffer the destruction of the body and soul in Hell Hence we are to learn First that whatever is near and dear unto a man if it be an occasion of his sin either to hinder from duty in omission or to provoke unto any lust by way of commission a man is to reject it with ind gnation pluck it out â—ut it off cast it from him The dearest thing must be parted with either as a snare or as a sacrifice Secondly Even Gods own people may have some dear pleasant and profitable lusts right hands to be cut off and right eyes to be plucked out Thridly If they should part with them they may look upon themselves and the World may count them as maimed men but Fourthly though they may seem so to themselves and the World to judge of them yet it is their best course that they could take Fifthly The good and evill of all things is to be judged by the end and issue of it i'ts better because thou enterest into life and it 's worse because keeping them thou wilt indanger body and soul in hell Sixthly Legal motives are of use even to the regenerated and therefore Christians may use them and not be legal Christians indeed the more ingenious services are the better and the more freely and readily the heart comes off from sin upon the principles of the Gospel and performes duty from a spirit of love fearing the Lord and his goodness obeying from a cord of love and thankfulness the love of Christ constraining But yet this will work no longer than grace hath the upper hand and if corruption prevail to call in these helps is not only lawfull but necessary But to come to the words of my Text They are a description of that destruction that keeping a right hand or a right eye that offends a man will bring upon him It is destruction in hell even of
3.17 be it known unto thee O King we will not serve thy gods c. Acts 1.20 We cannot but speak a necessity is laid upon me I must preach c. Jer. 20 9. The Word was in him as fire he could not forbear it is the impulse of Conscience that was the cause there is a double necessity Externa interna c. Now according unto this order and subordination of the faculties so shall the torment be Conscience is subject to none but God therefore the spirit of bondage shall come into the Conscience and trouble that and this shall torment the whole man and as God does usually set up Governours and they become Instruments of wrath over the kingdoms where they dwell if they be good they are a special blessing they are the breath of our Nostrils the stay of our Tribes the Chariots and Horsemen but if they be wicked they ruine the kingdom Psal 75.3 Saul had even destroyed the Nation they are ravening Lyons and evening Wolves Zeph. 3.3 So it is in the government of the inward man if the Conscience be good it s the greatest blessing and if evil the greatest curse for as none has the Power the Authority and the Opportunity to undo a people like those that have the Rule over them so it is with the Conscience there is nothing hath that Authority and Oppertunity to undo a man like it because it is alwayes with him where soever he goes and therefore 〈◊〉 Mala domestica Austine compare an evil Wife and an evil Conscience because they are both intolerablâ— burdensome evils a continual droping none have the Opertunity 〈◊〉 Torment like these Thirdly Conscience here has 〈◊〉 great hand in corrupting the whoâ— man and therefore it is no wondeâ— if hereafter it should have the greâ— hand in Tormenting him First Here Conscience is blinâ— and does not shew a man what is 〈◊〉 Duty and so many men Sin igâ—rantly for want of an inlightneâ— Conscience when the eye of 〈◊〉 man is darkned Math. 6. Hoâ— great is that darkness Secondly Conscience is dead a spirit of slumber is upon it that though it know things to be evil yet it stirs not against them or if it does it is but faintly but a good Conscience exerciseth Authority over the whole man and smites him when ever he does evil as 1 Sam. 24.17 Thirdly it is erroneous and carries men unto evil violently under a pretence of good a zeal not according to knowledg Joh. 16.2 For zeal persecuting the Church Tantus eram Saulus â—hat he thought him worthy of eternal death that descented from the Authority of his Religion in any thing it is from a deceived heart an erroneous Conscience Fourthly Conscience will be bribed by Lust takes in carnal reason and corrupt principles and will be satisfied in them Rom 1. imprisons truths in unrighteousness 1 Tim. 4.2 And it is insensible of any thing and it is just with God that that Officer in the man that had the great hand in corrupting should also have the great hand in tormenting the whole man Quest 4. Fourthly Why is not Conscience a Worm here as well as hereafter in Hell First Because Conscience cannot work of it self unless the Spirit of God awaken it c. Secondly Here is the working time of Conscience its suffering time shall be hereafter Here Conscience has great workes to do and great talents to imploy Heb. 13.18 The charge of the whole Life lies upon the Conscience and the Lord haâ— here a great house 2 Tim. 2.20 Understand it of the World or of the Church yet he has in it Vessek of Honour and some to Dishonour Now Why does God suspend the torment of the Devils It is because Christ has much work for them to do and they would have no pleasure in Sin if their Torments were fuller so it is with wicked men also and therefore the Lord has appointed a working time for Conscience to perform its viatory office and he has a pointed a suffering time for Conscience allo and he will not Torment them before that time Thirdly Hereby the Lord does exalt his own patience and long suffering so much the more for Sin being an infinite evil and a man that is but dust to provoke God to his Face and to do it the rather because God forbears them and sin the more because God forbears them and because of his patience because sentence is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the children of men are fully set to do evil now that God should bear with much patience and long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and that the Lord should not stretch forth his own hand against them but that he should also suspend the working of their one Consciences and should not let loose the reins upon them which would bring them down in the midst of their galantry as Belshazer Felix Judas c. And that God should keep a hand upon their Consciences and withhold their own thoughts from flying upon them it does wonderfully set forth the patience of God The Lord knows how to reserve the wicked to the day of wrath Fourthly Many things here which stop the mouth of Conscience shall hereafter be removed and then Conscience will speak The Worm of Conscience is to the Soul as they say the disease of the Wolf is to the Body If it be fed with something from without will eat the less inwardly but take away all supplies from without and it destroys inwardly as all the good things of this Life will be gone and then the Soul turns in upon it self and will be its own Tormentor foâ— ever Rev. 20.12 And I saw thâ— dead small and great stand before God and the Books were openedâ— and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Deaâ— were judged out of those things whicâ— were written in the Books according to their works It is an allusion to the day of judgment That 's granted by all The books opened are First the book of the Law and Gospel Secondly of Gods Omnisciency Thirdly of his Decre Fourthly the book of Conscience All those ancient Records that lay hid as Colours in the dark Rom. 2.15.16 or as something that is written with the juice of a Lemon you may read it when you bring it to the fire but not till then But we will now set forth those Tormenting acts of Conscience hereafter which shall be as the gnawings of this never dying worm but before we come to speak unto them perticularly it 's necessary that these four things be premised First That after this Life the Spirit of God shall come into the Conscience of a wicked man as a spirit of bondage fully for ever Conscience is but a subordinate power and acts allways with reference to a higher Law as a rule and a higher power as a Judge it is Regnum sub graviore Regno And therefore it never works by it self
there will be a time when judgment shall rejoyce over mercy for ever and it is much easier to change the seasons of the year that it shall not be summer and winter in its season rather then the seasons of the attributes of God for the curse is dying thou shalt dye Secondly No hope of mitigation or ease thy honours shall do thee no good it shall not descend after thee nor thy Riches shall not profit in the day of wrath Pro. 11.4 there is nothing but Righteousness can then avail thou shalt carry nothing with thee to bribe the flames or corrupt thy tormenters and not a drop of water Luke 16. not the smallest mitigation to eternity and this is properly the death of the soul loosing the soul Mat. 16.26 for so long the soul will live as long as there is hope but hope defer'd makes the heart sick and hope perished makes the heart dye the consideration of eternity swallows up a created understanding to be punished with eternal destruction depart into everlasting fire this is astonishment and dreadful amazement there shall be perfect fear for a man shall receive the spirit of bondage perfectly which is 2 Kin. 1.7 a spirit of fear we see it in the Devils Mat. 8.29 though they are in torment for the present yet there is a time of greater torment which they expect and that which they know they are reserved for and this they continually fear Luke 8.28 Here is the Dev. is prayer I beseech thee torment me not before the time c. so Dives though in torment yet he desires that his brethren may not come into the same place not that there is any charity in Hell for the Devil would have all men damn'd with himself and our natural affections shall cease in Hell but only fear of worse to come still remains Here in this life ungodly men are fearless and they seem to mock at fear as Job speaks c. but there is a time when their fear shall come Pro. 1.26 I will mock when their fear comes for it will come upon them as an armed man and the Lord will pour out upon them a trembling heart Deu◠28.65 and fear shall be on very side they shall be full of terrible apprehensions and so become Magor Missabib Jer. 20.3 4 Isa 13.8 their faces shall be as flames which denotes the variety of sad impressions upon them they shall change and be as tremulous as a flame Secondly The terrours of God shall set themselves in array against a man Job 6.4 and we know the terrour of the Lord how dreadful it is when he shall stir up all his wrath and thou shalt pay the uttermost farthing and he will recover all that glory upon thee by thy suffering that he has lost by thy sinning Thirdly Men may say but though I know not what God can inflict because it shall be his wrath put forth in the power of it though I know not what God can do yet I know what I can suffer but the Lord will surely inlarge the faculties and thou shalt be in a continual terrour that thou knowest not what the Lord will inlarge thee to suffer for thou art a vessel of wrath and therefore 't is said Psal 90.11 even according to thy fear so is thy wrath c. Fourthly Hence shall follow a distraction and madness Psal 88.15 while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted and also blasphemy I wish I were above God sayes Spira and a desire of annihilation wishing that he had never been Job 7.14 his soul chose strangling rather Judas does dispatch himself to be rid of his fears the wicked shall rise to judgment but they shall not be able to stand in judgment saith Spira this I know and it torments me with pangs unutterable and yet there is nothing that I desire more than that I might come unto that place where I might know the worst of my torment and so be freed from the fear of worse to come Nay fear doth anticipate our evils beforehand and thereby a man may even bring upon himself an eternity of torments at once in the fear of it the creature knows not the terror of the Lord unless it be discover'd to him my sufferings are great but my fears are endless and makes a man to suffer even an eternity of torments at once First Vse Seeing that Conscience shal be a mans tormentor at the last and that the Worm is bred from the putrefaction and corruption that is it the Conscience it should be a seasonable exhortation to get your Conscience purged that there may be nothing within you to breed this Worm 2 Tim. 1.3 We read of a pure or a purged Conscience and 〈◊〉 this be done thou needest not to fear for there will be nothing in thee fo◠this Worm to feed upon And here it will be good to consider First By nature thy Conscience i◠defiled for as upon the whole So◠defilement came by sin so Conscience having a special hand in the sin its defilement came specially upon the Conscience Secondly Tit. 1.15 Every sin committe◠adds unto this defilement as Mark 7.20.21 And this defiles the man there is not a vain thought in thy heart a vain word in thy mouth a sinful glance of thine eye Heb. 9.19 but it adds unto thy defilement for Jer. 17.1 It is Conscience that receives all and registers all all dead works lye there this is the Tophet or the Golgotha in the man all the filthiness of his life is there laid up as in a treasure for wrath and vengeance against the day of the revelation of the just judgment of God Jer. 2.22 Thirdly There is no power in nature to purge the Conscience for thou art dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2.1 And what can be more sutable to dead works should a man fast and pray could he fill the air with sighs and weep even to the brim it would add to his defilement because all the works of nature are dead works and their very prayers are turned into sin and their sacrifices are an abomination and that which adds unto his defilement can never cleanse it Fourthly If Conscience be not purged here it will never be purged hereafter Here indeed there is a plaister that will kill this Worm but if it out live the time of this life it is immortal it will never dye peccatum viatorum deleri potest Aquin. damnatorum non potest c. The Lord will say I would have purged you but you would not be purged therefore you shall never be purged from your iniquity for ever Fifthly There is but one medicine in the world will do it and if you miss of that you will dye in your sins and lye down with your Consciences full of the sins of your youth you may fly to prayer and preaching and think to have it done by these but it will never be there is but
offering for sin there is a sacrifice and there is a fire that must consume it Christ was the sacrifice and the wrath of God was the fire to consume him and these are the extremities of the sufferings of Christ now in all this Christ dyed as our surety and paid our debt Lâ—k 23.3 and if this fire did burn so fiercely in him that was the Green Tree that was not so fit Fuel to burn because there was no sin in him what will it do in us that are dry Trees now if the main of Christs sufferings were from the wrath of God immediately we may safely conclude that the sufferings due to us and which the wicked shall undergo in Hell for the substance of them shall be the same from the wrath of God immediately upon the Soul though there be no Creature in Heaven or Earth to set it on this wrath that did seize so siercely upon the green Tree will surely consume the dry And it must needs be so Reasons that the wrath of God upon wicked men in Hell shall be their great and immediate torment for none can do it but God alone and that if we consider the offence to be punished or else the subject of this punishment First if we consider the offence that deserves it it is sin which is committed chiefly against God and the punishment of it must be a recompence The Wages of sin is death 2 Thes 1. 't is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to every sinner c. Now who is able to take an estimate of the evil that is in sin and the wrong that it has done unto God there are two things in sin damnum injuria a wrong in point of goods and in point of honour sin has destroyed all the Creatures who is able to value the loss of a whole world but only he that made it and the loss of a Soul but he that purchased it and who is able to judge of the glory of God and the infinite wrong that is done him by sin no Creature in Heaven or in Earth can and therefore if all the powers of the Creatures were put into one to torment a man but for one sin they were never able to give unto him the wages and the recompence of one sin proportionable unto the wrong that God has susteined thereby either in point of goods or honour for there is more evil in one sin then there is or can be good in any of the Creatures therefore God must put his own Power the power of his wrath unto the work if he will have the wages of any one sin payd Judges here do condemn men themselves and pass the sentence upon them but they leave it unto others to execute them because they can do it as effectually as themselves but it is not so here if God will have a sinner pay the utmost farthing he must exact it of him himself for sin is out of measure sinful it passeth the thoughts of Men and Angels to conceive and therefore the punishment is greater then they can inflict it is God alone can do it Secondly If we respect the subject upon which this punishment is to light That is chiefly to be punished that has the chief hand in the sin Now Sin is mainly the sin of the Soul Mic 6.7 Rom 6.16 Though the creature might punish the body yet the mâ—â—â— torment is to be laid on the Soul but the Soul is capable of more to recent then all the creatures in Heaven and Earth can inflict God only is the Father of Spirits and the correction and discipline of Spirits do belong to him alone we commonly say that the Devils in Hell shall be the tormenters of souls there as if there work there were only to torment men for ever whereas they shall be chiefly tormented themselves for there is a Lake of fire and brimstone prepared for the Devil and his Angels and yet you say he can torment the soul being a spirit but alass the torment must be destruction 1 Thes 1.9 from the presence of the Lord c. Now all the devils in Hell could never inflict any thing that should distroy the soul or take away all good from the soul and fill it full of misery they can never satisfy the capacity of the Soul in good nor in evil the Soul is a vessel of wrath and will hold more then all the creatures can put into it and will live it 't is only under the wrath of God that the Soul dyes and therefore they that can kill the Body they are not able to kill the Soul God only can create Mat. 10.28 therefore God only can annihilate therefore God only can inflict a punishment worse then annihilation Mat. 26.24 It had been good for that man he had not been born that thus comes under the punishment of God this is a dreadful confideration Secondly It is an act fit for none but God for it is First An act of justice 2 Thes 1.5 In the day of Revelation of the righteous judgement of God when God will manifest his justice to the utmost Now Who is able to shew forth the justice of God in the extent and glory of it but himself When God will manifest an attribute to the World he doth it by himself immediately if he would shew his Power he will make a World if he would shew his Holyness he gives his Son and if his Glory he makes Heaven and if his Justice he makes Hell Now As nothing can do the former but Gods immediate hand so nothing can do the latter also for to manifest an attribute is an act and glory of God for as none can shew forth his mercy so none can shew forth and declare his Justice but himself Secondly It is an act of wrath Rom. 3.5 Rom. 2.5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath Now no creature is able to shew forth the wrath of the great God here there is a little wrath manifested in them his wrath is kindled but a little Psal 2. last c. And he corrects in measure but when the Lord shall cause his whole wrath to arise and punish man out of measure that no creature is capable of doing no creature can pour out all the grace of God neither and therefore God made choice of Christ who was God and man to lay up all his treasures of grace and mercy in answerable to those infinite thoughts of mercy and grace that were in himself 1 John 5.11 And this life is in his Son and so no creature can shew forth all Gods wrath he must do it by himself Thirdly It must be an act of vengeance which is the royalty of God that he claims to himself and he will not give unto any other Heb. 10.30 For we know him that has said vengeance belongs unto me I will recompence saith the Lord and
a curse for us and therefore the Lord did cause all our sins in the guilt and the punishment of them to meet upon him Psal 110. last he drank off the brook in the way c. Then all that are under the Law still they are under the curse of it and all their sins in the guilt and the punishment of them will meet upon them as the sins of the elect did upon the Lord Christ for Christ is but the surety of the elect and he did it voluntarily in obedience to the Father and therefore surely thou being the principal canst not look to scape for thou standest under the same covenant and under the same curse indeed unto them that are regenerate the Covenant is abolished he has blotted it out and nailed it to his Cross and he only stands under a Covenant of works for them and by the abolishing this has made way for a second Covenant but to all that are unregenerate the Covenant stands in force and they are under it and under the curse of it for ever Thirdly If you would indeed scape the wrath to come bring forth fruits meet for repentance Mat. 3.8 When they did pretend to desire to fly from the wrath to come John bid them make it appear to be true by bringing forth answerable fruits meet for repentance in this life God in judgment doth put no difference between men and men but penitent and impenitent sickness doth not complement with the great men of the World but assaults them boldly as well as the meanest and death knocks at the door of the Prince as well as of the poorest man and therefore surely it will be so in his eternal judgment also and thefore see you be penitent c. For unless you repent you shall all perish But how shall a man know he is penitent c. First When a mans heart is truly turned against that sin that he has repented of for this is the misery novum hoc monstri genus est eadem poena omnes jugiter faciunt quae se fecisse plangunt when a man hates every false way hatred is against all sin universally but in especial manner against the darling sin that sin in which a man has most dishonour'd God and wounded his own Conscience and by which Satan as a Proper has most tyranized over him what have I to do any more with Idols Hos 14. â— a mans unrightness of heart is seen in this that he keeps himself from his own iniquity there was but one way of dalliance that I did delight in and yet I am willing to give that up also as the Turkish Emperour that had but one beautifull Concubine in which he much delighted and doted upon that the Bashaws and the Janizaries took it amiss that he neglected the affairs of the Kingdom for her he brought her forth before them one day in all her bravery and they all admired the beauty of the woman and when he commended her highly for all her good qualities he cut off her head in their presence and told them he did it to let them see that there was nothing dear to him in respect of the publick welfare it was an act of cruelty in him but the moral of it may be of good use unto us that is fruit worthy of repentance when a mans heart is most of all turn'd against his darling sin Secondly There will be a holy jealousie of a mans self and a continual watching over the inward man Pro. 4.23 Keep thy heart above all keeping he hath a godly fear continually of the falseness of his own heart he knew that he is bent to backsliding and therefore is always watchfull he will not trust his eyes without a Couenant nor his tongue without a bridle will not venture upon occasions of sinning and will not be dallying with temptation least a spark be struck and the fire kindle again least he should look back with Lots Wife and with Israel have a mind again to hanker after Egypt for if the love of the sin doth still remain in his inward man there may be a restraint for a while and a damp but it will break out again and the man will return with the dog to the vomit the unclean spirit will enter again and the man will be worse then ever in the beginning it is this only that is fruit worthy of repentance he is more afraid of sin then of any loss of outward Comforts in the world Zâ—c 12 10 Isa 8.12 13 and mourns more for sin then any thing else we are exhorted not to fear the worlds fear they fear Creatures and losses and crosses but do you fear sin that displeases God and brings down his wrath and chuse not sin rather then affliction for if a man look upon sin as the greatest evil it must needs be the object of the deepest sorrow and the greatest fear Thirdly there will be an answerable obedience there is a double change in repentance and therefore it has a double name there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a change of a mans mind and a man hath other apprehensions of sin and the evil of it then he had in times past and there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a change of a mans care 2 Cor 7. and the endeavours of his life godly sorrow works a care to please God in all things the first question is what have I done and afterward Lord what wilt thou have me to do make me one of thy hired servants put me into any work I will do any thing be any thing Not only would the Soul be adopted to a new inheritance but he would be regenerate and have a new nature as we see in Zacheus he had a great change wrought in him he was before an oppressour and now a restorer and Saul a persecutor before of Gods people disturbing them in their way of worshiping God hailing them to prison consenting to the death of the Martyr Stephen I but now Paul is a chosen vessel unto the Lord now he is a Preacher and he did not more thirst for the blood of Souls before then now he doth for their Salvation so a truly penitent soul if he has been proud before his Conversion he is cloathed with humility if he was before unclean he now putson chastity and his care is that the contrary grace may grow and flourish in him or else truly here are no fruits meet for repentance and then what ever a man seems to be in the world he is no true Saint he does but seem to fly from the wrath to come and all his profession will come to nothing 't is but a shew a fancy and nomore Now I come to the last Branch in the text and that is the eternity of both these where the Worm dyes not and the fire is not quenched The Torment that the Lord has prepared for his Enemies is eternal There are in the Eternity of God
mercy but there is a time when the door will be past opening Mat. 25.10 Eccl. 9.20 and all mercy will be shut out for ever there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest The day of Grace has an end but the day of wrath will never end the days of Grace may be numbred but the days of wrath shall be numberless for the Scripture doth say that if the day of Grace be once overpast it will never return again Secondly An ungodly mans hope is said in Scripture to dye with him Job 11.20 his hope is as the giving up of the Ghost He breaths out his last hope and his last breath together for when a wicked man dyes his hope perishes Pro. 11.7 but the Righteous has hope in his death his hope is a living hope and therefore it dyes not with his body Now how comes it to pass a mans hope perishes this is grounded upon the eternity that is to come for were there not an eternity a mans hope would live but at a mans death a wicked mans eternal state being cast his hope dyes because there can be no expectation of a change in all afflictions here there is hope of an end or some mitigation Zac. 9 1◠they are all prisoners of hope c. And the Lord shall say to them in that day Turn you to the strong hold c. but in Hell there is no hope of any other state no not for one moment but the torment continues to eternity Rev. 20. Thirdly Hell is called a bottomless pit Luke 8.31 And this must needs express the eternity of it out of a pit in which there is no bottom there can be no redemption but a man must sink and sinks for ever it is eternity to the bottom there are pits here in which men may be cast not only into the prison but into the Sea or into the Dungeon in the prison and yet out of all these they may be delivered by the blood of the Covenant and brought out but this bottomless pit there is no blood of the Covenant to redeem from There is a great Gulfe set that is by a divine decree stablished and fixed a mans state is set for eternity and there is no hope of a change a passage here there is from death to life but there is none hereafter for there is a great Gulse that God has set between that there can be no passage no change of a mans condition there can be no translation for judgment pronounced against a man at the last day is eternal judgment Fifthly If a man that is under this torment would come forth there be Chains cast upon him to keep him under that darkness Jude 6. so that he cannot escape as Jude sayes the Angels that kept not their first estate but left their own habitation are kept in Chains under darkness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are kept in Chains that is the Judgment of God and the power of God significat potentiam Dei quâ tanqnam vinculis aeternis nunquam solvendis Estius and it is under darkness either in Hell the darkness there or under the darkness and the guilty thoughts of their own spirits now under both these the Devils are already and this is the wrath and these are the Chains that are prepared for all the seed of the Serpent which shall torment them Sixthly This fire can never goe out because there will be for ever a supply of the fuel now if there be always combustble matter added to fire here the fire will never go out but in this there will be always a supply the fire will still have an addition of fuel and of blowing the pile thereof is fire and much wood sa 30.33 the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not barely a stream but a torrent a flood a violent and swift-running stream from much waters and Brimstone is the most fierce burning for fire to work upon and it is most hardly quenched and a River a Torrent of Brimstone the wrath of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning in it the fuel is the wrath of God as a River of Brimstone burning in it as in this life the spirit of God in a work of grace is not only fire but oil it is maintained and supplied by the same grace and the same spirit and is maintained by it so after this life the spirit of God will not only be fire but a River of brimstone and their will be a dayly maintanance a continual supply of the same wrath for ever therefore that fire can never be quenched Let us now look in the grounds of this eternity and that the rather because there is a principal in the minds of men ready to tax the Lord of cruelty and injustice that he should for the sins of a few years lay upon men punishment and torment to eternity the acts transient and but for a moment that the wrath of God should be permanent and never end and therefore say they these things cannot fland with the justice of God or with his mercy therefore they conceive that men shall be but punished for a time and a time for their deliverance will come when this worm shall dye and this fire shall be quenched and some say the persons shall be destroyed and others that they be annihelated as the Socinians and divers desperate Libertines at this day that will never be perswaded that it can agree with the merciful nature of God to make creatures eternally to destroy them for a few acts of sin committed a few years here in this life and Origen was so merciful in this kind that he would have the Devil saved after some years and Hell fire to be wholly put out and Austin in his time had to do cum misericordibus quibusdam qui nolunt credere poenam sempiternam futuram c. But that men after some certain time should be delivered de civet L. 21. c. 17. Now The grounds of this eternity of wrath are these First Gods intention from eternity was to shew his wrath and to make his power known unto the vessels of wrath Rom. 9.21.22 All men are in his hand as clay in the hand of the potter and it is in his power to make them vessels of honour or dishonour Now if the Lord will shew the riches of his glory and of his mercy unto the vessels of mercy it must be to eternity and to everlasting life so if the Lord will shew forth the power of his wrath it must be to eternity for the one must answer the other and if there be eternal mercy to manifest the one there will require eternal wrath to shew forth the other for there are but two things in which the love of God is seen and in which his wrath is seen and they are things